Urgent help needed re gross misconduct

tubie22

paulineb wrote: »

Is he taking in a representative with him? Union rep, colleague?

Had any advice over this from a union or citizens advice?

Not a member of a union so, no. Our local CAB is pretty crap. They generally don't know what they are on about.

paulineb_2

tubie22 wrote: »

Not a member of a union so, no. Our local CAB is pretty crap. They generally don't know what they are on about.

Id still try and get him to take in someone with him, going into a disciplinary hearing without a rep, particularly when it could result in the loss of his job, he should have someone there, even just as a witness.

Id also advise him to read this

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/k/b/Acas_Code_of_Practice_1_on_disciplinary_and_grievance_procedures-accessible-version-Jul-2012.pdf

Newbeginnings

Has he previously been issued with a verbal warning before now or is this his first experience of disciplinary in this employment?

tubie22

Newbeginnings wrote: »

Has he previously been issued with a verbal warning before now or is this his first experience of disciplinary in this employment?

He hasn't been given an official verbal warning, or warning of any kind, nothing has been documented. He has been spoken to by his team manager regarding discounts (he was giving too many during the first month of the job, keen to keep customers happy etc) but this has slowly been bettered, as his manager had commented in his investigation meeting.

So, in short, he has been verbally spoken to regarding the number of discounts, not ever the percentages of the discounts, but nothing has ever been put on file or made official.

eschaton

colino wrote: »

Well as it is the equivalent of a retail shop assistant giving a product away at much less than the sale ticket price and waiting for the boss to find out, you really do have to hope they are otherwise great at their job and they want to, after a slap on the wrist, hang on to him.

Very good point here. I work in retail and an unauthorised reduction is gross misconduct. The result of the disciplinary would always be dismissal no matter how much you were to beg.

tubie22 wrote: »

So, in short, he has been verbally spoken to regarding the number of discounts, not ever the percentages of the discounts, but nothing has ever been put on file or made official.

Not trying to be harsh but he hasn't learned has he?

Bad enough giving too many discounts when you aren't supposed to although I understand why. To have been spoken to and then to go down the unauthorised discount route is very careless.

sammyjammy

If I were the employer I would dismiss, it shows how unacceptable this behavious is to other staff. If everyone randomly went around giving unauthorised discounts becasue they were too lazy to either request permission or do their sales job properly then the company could lose a lot of money. I think whats prevelant is that if he is behaving in this way after only five months in the job what would he be doing after a longer period of time.

gb12345

tubie22 wrote: »

He has been there for almost 5 months.

I really can't see why they are even bothering with the disciplinary - they could have got rid of him without any reason.

Unless, there is a potential that he could have claimed he was being dismissed under one of the protected characteristics so they are covering themselves.

Neathbuild

He should have a contract alongside staff policy etc which should be signed and should clearly lay out protocol on discounts benefits etc in order to retain customers. I would suggest he has a good look over these as it should outline what is classes as gross misconduct and what the procedures are.

Unfortunately if he has given discount knowing what that he should've gained approval from management he's going to be in trouble. Think of it this way a nurse administering a medicine without it being approved by a dr. There are procedures that are there to be followed regardless of how unfair people may think they are.

Tell him to be calm and honest at the meeting. Explain his actions and hope that they give him a warning. A disciplinary does not automatically mean a dismissal it's simply a procedure designed for the individual to respond to the act. They will decide from there what action to take.

Good luck

somethingcorporate

How many times has/had he done it without being caught?

tubie22

Hes never done it before.

Just to let you know, he got sacked. We now cant affors our rent or bills and will barely be feeding ourselves. At the end of the day, he was just a number to them. They dont care if he has no where to live, nothing to eat etc.

Thanks anyway.